High Desert Museum is a most see if you are visiting Bend or the surrounding area. It is a great experience for kids and adults. The exhibits are well maintained and provide detailed information to educate the viewer. Allow a minimum of 3 hours to thoroughly enjoy your visit.

This was a great adventure, loved seeing so many animals and getting a good amount of walking in as well. Love seeing animals up close that you usually cant get that close to.

This is such an amazing experience. Its a partially interactive experience due to Covid-19. Theres more that one can do when thats not an issue. Still worth every minute. Theres live animals and various buildings and tons of things to see and do here.

Great examples of what really happened in history. Not white washed, but not overly tragic either. They brought a good balance of truth along with how tribes overcame challenges. Lots of beautiful and interesting artifacts. Animals were so fun to watch, especially the active otters. Staff was friendly. Loved the gift shop.

This was such a fun experience! My family of 4 loved it. Definitely would love to visit again!

This was an awesome attraction! Was absolutely worth it. The price when we went was very, very reasonable. Plenty of very well cared beautiful animals. Great educational and interesting exhibits. Probably my highlight of Bend.

Very polite staff and amazing 3 dimensional exhibits throughout museum. We were up close to 3 very friendly otters, fox and birds of prey. Lots of benches, shaded areas and a couple misting areas. We had an amazing time and learned so much.

Friendly staff. Very clean. Socially distanced by tickets purchased ahead of arrival. Great food at cafe, enjoyed on the patio. Above all, the otter exhibit was wonderful. I hope to be back to visit Brook, Rogue & Pitch soon. Love you guys!

Truly amazimg museum. Its quite large and in addition to the museum portion it also has a birds of prey exhibit that houses some truly incredible birds. Would absolutely recommend going!

So much to see and do! Very educational and lots of cool exhibits. Also covid-19 atmosphere social distancing and masks followed by all.

Great for the whole family. Great information and love how everything is set up

I would love to rate this establishment based on their actual features, however, I was not fortunate enough to make it that far. After calling in advance to ensure that their dog area was still in use, and being told yes, my husband, child, dog, and I set out for what we thought would be a wonderful day of adventure and fun. Upon arriving, we were told that the dog area was not still in use, and when talking to the manager about spending half our day driving to their location, we were told, “if you’re comfortable enough, you can just tie your dog up to the hand rails outside of the entrance.” Thanks, but no thanks. Thank you for ruining our day, wasting the hour plus of gas we used to get there, and then to top it all off, we weren’t even offered a refund for this mishap.

Absolutely loved this place. My kids were head over heels for the out door exhibits. They especially liked the sleeping otters. The restaurant was delicious. The kids loved the mac and cheese and the hot dog. I loved the home cooked chilli! Father Christmas was spectacular. He doesnt time with each kid and made sure to make reach of them feel special. There was plenty of parking, the ice and snow was cleared from parking lot. The staff was amazing, and they even had a coat rack upon entrance. We will be back for sure! Its worth the trip from Portland. Bring the family it will be worth the couple hour drive.

Very well done museum with lots of plants and animals and great exibhits about life in the high desert. We will definitely be back

Great place to spend the afternoon with family or friends on the high desert. Lots of interesting exhibits on the high desert and Native American heritage. Lots of trails to hike and animals to be seen.The raptors bird show is a must see. Amazing experience overall.

Fun for all! Me and my boyfriend went on a Sunday during the off season and it was amazing. Wasnt too busy. Was able to leisurely walk around and explore the exhibits inside and then go out side and see the saw mill and birds of prey exhibit was one of my favorites! We got to see the otters out side and they are a cute little trio!The gift shop was cool too and reasonable priced. I got a cool cup and kitchen rag for under 20. Spent about 2 hours here was a fun experience and very glad I was able to see and experience while visiting Bend!

Its expensive but worth it! The kids loved seeing all the animals. The burning man exhibit currently displayed is cool and interactive. I loved sharing the history of the native nations with my kiddos too.

Only used the charging station. But I spoke to a docent when I went in to use the bathroom. They were very nice people, and the little bit I saw on the way to the bathroom was cool. Would like to come back at some point and really explore.

Go to the raptor show! Just dont stand up during the show if you do. The birds fly right over your head.Also, cute otters who were really active when we visited.The Spirit of the West exhibit was fun for our two year old. Plus they have a play space thats perfect after running around outside.

This is a great place. Every time we come through Bend we go and there are better exhibits here each time. They are presented nicely and convey lots of good info. They even had an interesting exhibit of Burning Man. Our grandson (11 yrs old) had a great time but we did have to wear those blasted masks. If you havent seen it you should go!

My family has three decades of memories spanning four generations at this wonderful place. Highly recommend the birds of prey demonstration, and I was recently impressed with the diverse regional history exhibits. Fun and informative for everyone from age 2 to 92.

This place is way cool. Has informative exhibits and animals. Take your children or your friends. You wont be disappointed.

Loved it. Great museum with lots of different exhibits. Worth checking out for sure.

Definitely visit if youre in Bend. Really good dioramas of life in the desert.The turkey, bacon, avocado sandwich is delicious.

Wonderful mix of animals, art, and history. The otters are a favorite! The life size dioramas really bring history to life. Overall, a great museum. Note - for your planning purposes, they do NOT accept Discover card for admission. This may not matter to you, but it is a big deal for me. I really don’t like it when organizations make it hard for me to give them money!

Took my family here and I was amazed. There is so much to see here it’s crazy. I love this place and I’m not even a museum fan. The exhibitions are detailed and there are thousands of artifacts. I am absolutely amazed can I say that word again amazed.If you have a family and you And have children homeschooling this is a homeschooling this is a perfect place to take them to learn about the history of the high Desert the native Americans the movement of history and anything else in between there are huge fishtanks, an otter aquarium, bird sanctuaries, and more.Take a look at all of these pictures are uploaded for this review you will be blown away.Enjoy!!!

Cute spot to stop and learn as well as see some animals. Not expensive to go in either.

This museum is super for all families ! Very interesting with inside gallery Native American History, outside reconstitution.

Have you ever seen a native family here??? Does not depict native American lifestyle correctly. Only when those in charge of the museum care to ask. Do they have to update the exhibit constantly because the natives come in and tell them how wrong it is. The few natives that choose to share with people that still dont care about their proper culture.

Beautiful buildings in a nice forest setting. Very nice Native American exhibit. Exhibits could use better signage. Example: great sawmill, but no explanation of how it works. Indoor and outdoor exhibits.

Excellent natural history displays on the region. Good history exhibits as well. Interesting exhibit on Burning Man. Good place with kids.

This place simply continues to excel. Its a must see in the area, especially with the new Burning Man exhibit. You will not be disappointed.

Pleasantly surprised. Great exhibits on Native Americans and settlers. Awesome exhibits on local wildlife. Very educational. My 10 yr old niece loved it.

Awesome and so much fun! Perfect thing to do with little kiddos

Great museum with some nice animal exhibits. The river otters, fox, and porcupine are all great. The interpretive materials on Native Americans is hit and miss. Its also a bit expensive, but worth it.

One of my most favorite musuems in the world! Excellent exhibit design and curation. Kids love the animals out in the zoo.

Mask usage was pretty good here. Plenty of hand sanitizing too.And the otters are super cute!

Have been coming to the high desert museum since I was a little kid. Got to take my one year old daughter for the first time last weekend. She loved it. The indoor exhibits are great and she loved all the animals. Such a cool place to spend a day exploring. Cant wait to bring her again.

Good place to visit if you are around bend or sunriver. Kids will enjoy the bird show, birds prey center, otters and much more. In depth history around Indians, settlement etc.

I learned alot!! Burning man exhibit was very cool

One of my favorite museums, it had been about 18 years since our last visit. Great exhibits, my 10, 7, and 2yo’s loved seeing the raptors and otters.

Interesting displays here. We had fun. Covers historic periods up to modern. And they have an otter... in the desert...

Great exhibits, some hands on stuff for kids. The pioneer village is a huge hit, the mining caves are a must stop, the fish are fun, otters are delightful, and they have some really cool owls. The Native American exhibit is excellent with many handmade art pieces. They do a great job incorporating the natural environment into the museum grounds is beautiful.

Great exhibits and wonderful hiking area. My favorite Bend area attraction.

Really cool museum/zoo. They have some traditional exhibits, some fun interactive exhibits that my kids loved, and many live animals. Do the Birds of Prey show!

Great views. Nice rest area.

This was a pleasant surprise! Not at all what I expected . This place was huge with indoor and outdoor exhibits. They even had live sea otters, owls, porcupine, lizards etc. I highly recommend this place. You can make a whole day of it.

Great educational exhibits. Many exhibits were undergoing updates so we missed some things, but we still had a blast. Knowledgeable employees who were happy to talk and educate. Indoor and outdoor exhibits were both exceptional. Be sure to check out the otters!

Loved the whole experience. The birds of prey talk was amazing. The saw mill and settler camp was fun even had people there in period clothing. All around wonderful

Very nice museum. The birds of prey area was interesting as was the horned owl presentation. Sea Otter exhibit was interesting. The Native American exhibition hall was pretty authentic and the black and white TV playing The Lone Ranger made me was to take a seat and watch the episode. Overall a pretty nice place to spend a rainy and cold afternoon.

Awesome. Incredibly detailed exhibits. Burning Mean was prolific...I felt like I was back in Black Rock City.

It was not busy at all. Very enjoyable. We really enjoyed the raptor show.

This is a great place to bring your family. All of the exhibits are well done and very interesting. We really loved the Birds of Prey and the Otter exhibits. I highly recommend this place, it was a great experience.

This is a great way to kill a couple hours. My daughter really enjoyed the exhibits and the outdoor walkways. What’s nice is that there was something for everyone in the family, exhibits on electricity, history, animals and nature. There’s also a cute cafe with good food, a nice gift shop and there’s plenty of parking.

Perfect place for kids and adults! My 3 year and a half year old loves it here, there’s so much to see and do!

All was great..1st time...amazing.. More Great service and food and prices Judy Smith, kristi and the whole team are awesome..

A lot of great programs to learn about specific animals. Selection of animals is kinda limited but was told only rescued animals can make it here so that’s fine. But was expecting to see more on the unique ecosystem of high dessert, more info on the plants would be nice.

Make sure you have time for this place. Avg time to enjoy is 5-6hrs. Love it

This is a nice little stop in Bend at any time of year, especially if you have young ones. There are some animals (my favorite are the birds) and some historical, informative exhibits. There is more outside too! They have a ranch and a changing forest exhibit. Its a decent size museum for being all the way out in Bend. We didnt have any young kids with us so we took about 2 hours at the museum.

Great natural history museum featuring dioramas,Indian history and animals of the high dessert US.Call to reserve time slots. Masks required and PLENTY OF HAND SANITIZER AVAILABLE!

Wow. This place is amazing, it is very clear they take great care with their animals, very large accommodating enclosures. All around super friendly, helpful, knowledgeable staff! I adored the owls!! They looked like they wanted to kill me, but adorable! Please go if you have a chance, there is a beautiful outdoor area as well, its basically in the middle of a forest! Want to go back as soon as possible!! There are a huge variety of animals, frogs, snakes, tortoises, otters, owls, eagles, turtles and even a porcupine! Would make a great educational day for kids!

Great interactive museum. Good for adults and kids.

Very nice time. Not crowded so we just moseyed along and checked out the exhibits. Art work and pictures were very tastful. Wildlife exhibits were clean and animals very healthy. Overall a nice time.

Amazing place!Great trip back in time. Definitely a place for children and adults alike. Has a great Cafe, great exhibits great Native American exhibits.

Lots of fun, with one caution. My kids and I thoroughly enjoyed the sawmill and surrounding areas, as well as the indoor exhibits. The Birds of Prey exhibit had a disturbing real-to-life carcass of a deer with a bird tearing it to shreds. My two smallest children were quite disturbed by it, and as a parent I would have appreciated a heads up to a display like this. Other than that one exhibit, they loved everything they saw.

A bit expensive for what it has to offer. Also, we were interested only in the outdoor exhibits but we had to go through busy hallways to get outside.

What a fantastic treat! Better than I expected!

Needs more handicapAreas to see stuff . Pave it . Liked all the benches. Maps need to be more clear . Times need to spread out more from activities too . Other then that greatThank you and kinda costly

Different exhibits indoors (Native Americans, water conservation, etc.). Really cool sculpture of a sage brush showing its looooong tap root hanging overhead. Many interpretive programs outdoors on the lovely shaded paths through native plants, playful otters, and birds of prey. The cafe has healthy locally sourced food.

Children will like the high desert museum, there are different areas where you can learn about wildlife and the forest. Very cool.

This museum is worth a visit just once. The otters were out giving a great show between 12-1 because they used to get fed fish at that hour but no more. Apparently they were bullying each other so now they withhold food midday. Feeding times are before & after operational hours. Very disappointed that I went for that specific reason & even the front desk didnt know they changed shows.

We havent been here in awhile and we will be back soon. Such a great place to take the kids. It is both indoors and outdoors and a lot of walking so make sure you all have comfortable shoes.

Super fun place. Awesome exhibits

Bend, Oregon.Highlights: Predatory Avians (Birds) & Nature.Parking/Roads: Paved.Handicap: The parking & indoor exhibits are good for handicap/sick folks. The museum generously provides walkers for us.The outdoor exhibits consisting of homesteading, nature & various wildlife might pose issues as the grounds is a good size with short inclines. The land isnt flat & the climate is extreme during the seasons so use wisdom of your various health situations to determine if this is a good (bad) idea.I struggled to enjoy the exterior during the summer dry heat needing plenty rest and time to catch my breath. There is plenty of shade to cover from the suns devastation, but, it was also the beginning of wildfire season w/ brush fires in a good distance. If you paid attention in the news, Sept 2020s fire season has decimated Oregon (Cali & Washington).Hours: Generally, Sun-Sat 9-5.Cost: $17/adult w/ various pricing for seniors, kids & students.Distance:DT Los Angeles, CA 800 miles @ 13 hours.DT Portland, OR 170 miles @ 4 hours.DT Seattle, WA 335 miles @ 6 hours.DT Boise, ID 320 miles @ 6 hours.Adjacent Attractions:Bend is Central Oregons largest city w/ museum, markets, walmarts and food spots of all kinds from unhealthy to organic junk.Lava Butte Cinder Cone, Lava River Cave & the Newbury Volcano is southward a few minutes away.Crater Lake, and Fort Klamath Museum is a few hours southbound.Klamath Falls the town has many things a few hours south.Burns, Rural Oregon & John Day Wilderness w/ all its hot springs is eastward.Museum:Consists of three main hallway exhibits consisting of permanent art, history, culture & wildlife featuring a porcupine. The museum also have various exhibits at different points and I came with a Native American Photographer w/ mad skills (no pics allowed).Decent sized gift shop w/ nothing special or different that screams Central Oregon or old school themes.The exterior is quite large & I learned a lot about the landscape/topography. A good chunk is devoted to educating on wildfire & how the older generations were able to prevent, prepare and work around such devastating nature that is caused by lightning more so than cigarettes or campfire or a pyro-technic machine like good ole Californians. The exhibit also highlights why brush fire was necessary to maintain the natural habitat, the soil and foilage. It was crazy to think that wildfires is mother natures filtering & waste management response to the environment/habitat.The northern sector was devoted to homesteading. Cabin and the old way of life. Very similar to any other homestead museum but different due to the regional climate & potential conflicts w/ Natives or other hostiles.Southern portion was a small area for a pond and a bunch of cute little critters called otters. Very playful & responsive to humans. The little cuties bring smiles to everyones face & popular w/ kids.The SE corner is a habitat for predatory birds. Big badass birds such as ealges & the such. I love large birds. Hawks & eagles are amazing. Large, freaky, perfect eyesight & majestic in its approach to the no non-sense lives they should live in the wild. Birds of all kinds are meant to resemble freedom & the imagery of flight beyond the naked eye is often depicted as so. Unfortunately, these hawks and friends are caged. They are imprisoned, perhaps, due to their own safety & inability to thrive in the wild, but its still sad. The parable humanity has used as a symbol of freedom & independence are... Caged... The irony.I loved this museum. Diverse in the exhibits. Informative & pragmatic w/ the info to learn & apply to our lives for those who seek to be one w/ nature from a holistic/spiritual perspective.Travel safely my friends.@cigarcpa

Definitely a surprisingly fun stop. Spend 2-3 hours here and get a really nice overview of the high desert and its landscape.Inside and outside are really well done.Make sure to visit the otters.

Highly recommend! Make sure you have enough time to take it all in!

So, so good! The animals, creatures and nature exhibits are fantastic. The historic cultural exhibits are the best Ive seen. Its as its they have taken entire real scenes, real materials, real everyday items, real artifacts; and moved them into the museum complete... There are no props. Well worth the drive, well worth the money. Absolutely do come visit this place!

Thanks for being open..! Been someplace we wanted to visit for a long time. Some exhibits closed due to Covid.

Extraordinarily well crafted museum and we wished we had more time!! we crammed in 1 hour here near closing, so we could only bounce around and glance without reading much. we still loved it and everyone was impressed with how nicely its put together and very clean. a must stop for central oregon!

Fun!! Very well organized with covid guidelines.

Way more than I anticipated. Loved the animal and bird presentation/ talks. The artwork was lovely.

The museum is good, my family likes the otter pool especially, however, its overpriced too much. Local people may like it because there are not too many choices here, but as travellers, weve been to many much better museums with similar price, such as the living desert zoo & garden in Palm Desert CA.

Great place for adults and kids. We love the live animals otters and the 1900s town reinactment. They have some great exhibits. And some little too progressive for kids. The cafeteria is good as is the little gift shop. the picture is of my moms quilt in the quilt tower.

Beautiful exhibits and grounds. Definitely recommend.

This was a fun family activity for the Bend area. Our 9 year old loved seeing all the animals and being able to run around, read and learn. Husband and I also enjoyed all the exhibits, art and fun things to see. Great way to spend a few hours on any given day, and good family fun!

What an awesome experience. Our kids (ages 13-18) loved this place!

This is not the MET so if youre looking for that type of a museum you will be left somewhat disappointed. Having said that I absolute love the high desert museum. I recently relocated back to Bend Oregon after living out of state for several years and since rurning to the area I have been here 3 times. Each time I have found something new that I missed the previous times. It is highly educational that done in an interesting and engaging way. There seems to be a lot for children here as well. I cant wait to go during the summertime when the settler cabin has more going on.

One of the most amazing museums in the nation!! I would live here if the would let me

Enjoy the museum. Wish they would have told us we needed to purchase a special ticket for the bird show.

We love this local museum, I only wish it wasnt quite so expensive.

Great time. Would recommend the birds of prey. It was a lot of fun for all ages.

Really well done exhibits on a variety of subjects. We spent four hours there, and could have stayed longer!

Its a cool museum with critters and exhibits, not life changing but definitely something worth doing.

We visited here in Aug 2017. What an awesome experience seeing the raptors and river otters! I cant wait to come back and take my family there!

Loved the private time after covid we got to spend with the others was the best experience EVER and I am a born and raised bendite

Raptors of the High Desert was extremely cool. The bird fly right by your head.

Good place to visit on a nice day. The cafe wasnt much and took a while for a PB&j cu the waitress and manager(someone that was interviewing someone at least) needed to gossip about the gal that got interviewed while we waited... And we were the only ones in there. Other than that Im sure the cafe is good if you come in during the regular season.

Neat exhibits. Although some weren’t up and running.

I was super impressed with the staff. My son has some special needs, and the moment we got there things started falling apart for him. One really nice woman gave him a cookie on the house to help make his day better. This mama was holding back tears, I appreciated the kindness SO much.

Always come to this place when we are here! One of the highest quality museums I’ve been too. Fun animal exhibits. Very well done historical exhibits. I’d pay twice as much to see this. Friendly staff. History feels alive here! Must see if you are in central Oregon.